The first light of dawn glimmered.
In the clearing at the village entrance, the children who were usually bursting with life looked especially wilted today.
Ermeng squatted on a stone stool, dark circles around his eyes, yawning nonstop.
Shi Hou leaned over for a look.
Good grief, those dark circles were more textbook than a giant panda's.
"Ermeng, were you out stealing last night?"
Ermeng scratched his messy hair, his face full of resentment.
"Don't even ask. My dad and mom fought all night."
Beside him, Dazhuang also sported two enormous dark circles and sighed.
"Same at my house. They made so much noise, the stone bed kept rattling and banging. I think it even collapsed afterward. I didn't dare sleep all night with that racket."
Snot Boy sniffed back his runny nose, looking utterly bewildered.
"Grown-ups are so weird. Aren't they tired from hunting all day? How do they still have so much energy to fight at night?"
Shi Hou drew his neck in.
He silently retreated two steps, trying to make himself as inconspicuous as possible.
There was no way he could join this conversation.
The chief culprit was standing right here.
Only Shi Hao was full of energy.
Little One had eaten the most last night, yet slept the soundest.
After all, he had no parents "fighting" beside him. He had a whole bed to himself and snored loud enough to shake the heavens.
Now he was teasing Kang on his shoulder, his little face rosy and brimming with energy.
"Assemble!"
A booming, vigorous shout rang out.
Shi Linhu walked over with the hunting party.
Though all the grown men also had dark circles under their eyes, something about their spirits seemed off.
They strode like the wind, their steps firmly planted, every face glowing.
Their gazes just wandered a little, and they hardly dared look at their own children.
Usually, the village women would come out at this hour to see them off and hand them dry rations and water.
Today, the village entrance was deserted. Not a single woman was in sight.
"Ahem."
Shi Linhu coughed twice, his eyes darting away.
"Well... today your mothers are all... feeling unwell. They can't get out of bed."
"Move out!"
As though afraid the children would ask more questions, the men shouldered their weapons and charged into the Great Wilderness as if fleeing.
Shi Hou's mouth twitched.
Overdoing the nourishment really was a disaster of its own.
"All right, stop staring."
The clan chief, Shi Yunfeng, walked over.
The old man looked different today.
A few strands of his graying hair had actually turned black, many of the wrinkles on his face had smoothed out, and his skin shone with a healthy luster.
That bowl of mutton soup had made this old tree seem to sprout fresh shoots.
He was hale and hearty.
"Today, I'll teach you bone text."
Shi Yunfeng sat cross-legged on a large bluestone, his expression turning solemn.
"Bone text is the primordial precious art that primordial remnants are born with. It embodies the order of heaven and earth."
"Human bodies are frail. Only by engraving these runes within yourselves, drawing upon the essence of heaven and earth, and transforming it into radiant light can you wield the mighty power to move mountains and fill seas."
The old clan chief extended his palm.
Light flared in his palm. Several mysterious symbols danced, forming the phantom of a miniature Fierce Beast that roared soundlessly.
The children around him watched, dazzled and entranced.
"Quiet your minds and comprehend."
"Guide the blood and vital energy within you to trace these runes."
The children immediately sat cross-legged and closed their eyes, trying to connect with the warm current inside them.
Shi Hao was the fastest.
Almost as soon as he closed his eyes, a faint dawnlike glow rose from his skin. Though weak, it was incomparably pure.
Ermeng, Dazhuang, and the others began responding one after another, faint points of light roaming beneath their skin.
Shi Hou closed his eyes too.
He was very confident in himself.
The blood and vital energy within him, carrying over eight thousand jin of strength, surged like mighty rivers. Who could rival that foundation?
He tried to control that immense power and outline the simplest bone-text symbol in his mind.
Gather!
His will stirred.
The great river of blood and vital energy within him roared forward.
Then-
It scattered.
It was like watering a tender flower with a flood. Not only did the rune fail to take shape, its phantom was washed to pieces.
Shi Hou refused to believe it.
He tried again.
It scattered again.
His blood and vital energy were wild and unruly-or rather, far too overbearing and pure.
They refused to assume any shape, willing to exist only in their most primal form.
Even more frightening, Shi Hou discovered that he could not sense the essence of heaven and earth outside him at all.
It was as though the laws of this world had... shut him out.
Cold sweat slid down his forehead.
A faint glow had already appeared on every child around him. He alone remained like a stubborn rock, showing no response.
"Skinny Monkey?"
Shi Yunfeng noticed something wrong and stepped up to Shi Hou.
He pressed a hand to the crown of Shi Hou's head.
A moment later, the old clan chief's expression changed drastically.
"How could this happen?"
"Your blood and vital energy are like an ocean, frighteningly vigorous, but this bone text... why won't any of it merge with you?"
Refusing to accept it, the old clan chief guided his own vital essence and forcibly poured it into Shi Hou's body, trying to help him construct his first wisp of a rune.
Bang!
A muffled impact sounded.
Shi Yunfeng's fingers were violently knocked away.
The moment that foreign runic power entered Shi Hou's body, his own blood energy brutally shredded it.
Rejection.
Absolute rejection.
Dead silence fell.
Ermeng opened his eyes and scratched his head. "Clan Chief, is Skinny Monkey just too powerful? Are these runes not good enough for him?"
Shi Yunfeng's expression was grim. His lips moved, but no words came out.
In the Great Wilderness, if someone could not cultivate bone text or master Treasure Arts, there was ultimately a limit to what they could achieve, however strong their body might be.
That was almost the same as being... a cripple.
Shi Hou opened his eyes and looked at his hands, utterly devoid of light.
The fire in his heart went half cold.
I transmigrated into Perfect World, and I can't cultivate magic?
I can't use Treasure Arts?
When I fight people in the future, they'll fill the sky with lightning and fire, while I can only flail away with wild punches?
That's way too embarrassing.
"Skinny Monkey..."
Shi Hao came over, his little hand taking hold of Shi Hou's icy fingers.
"It's all right."
Little One's eyes were clear, his tone earnest.
"You cook. I'll fight."
"If anyone dares bully you, I'll blast them away with runes."
Ermeng and Dazhuang gathered around too, thumping their chests in assurance.
"That's right! We're brothers from the same village!"
"If it comes to it, I'll carry you on my back and fly!"
Warmth filled Shi Hou's heart, and he gave a bitter smile.
"I'll go try again."
He stood, brushed the dirt off his backside, and walked toward the charred lightning-struck wood at the village entrance.
He refused to give up.
Perhaps the Willow Deity had a way.
He came beneath the willow and gazed up at that emerald-green branch.
"Great Sacrificial Spirit."
"Am I a cripple?"
The wind stopped.
The willow branch drooped, hovering three inches before Shi Hou's brow.
A gentle yet immense voice sounded in his mind.
"Your path is already set."
"If you cannot borrow the laws of heaven and earth, then become a heaven and earth unto yourself."
Shi Hou's eyes lit up. "You mean..."
The willow branch lightly touched his brow. A cool sensation instantly calmed his restless heart.
"One force shatters ten thousand arts."
Shi Hou trembled.
All his confusion and resentment vanished like smoke before those words.
Fuck runes.
Fuck Treasure Arts.
As long as my health bar is long enough, as long as my fists are hard enough.
Let your Treasure Arts reach the heavens. I'll shatter them with a single punch.
If these heavens try to crush me, I'll stew the heavens!
Shi Hou grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth.
He bowed deeply to the Willow Deity.
"I understand."
"If I can't be a mage, I'll be the tankiest tank and the most brutal warrior."
Shi Hou turned and looked at Shi Hao, who was watching him anxiously from nearby.
That was his source of power.
That was his point-farming machine.
A fierce green gleam blazed in Shi Hou's eyes, making Shi Hao's skin crawl. He instinctively covered his little backside.
"Little One!"
Shi Hou strode over, threw an arm around Shi Hao's neck, and smiled with exceptional brilliance.
"Hungry?"
"Your big brother's making you a huge feast today!"
From this day onward, it would not just be for Shi Hao, but for himself as well.
Not a single Fierce Beast in this Great Wilderness was getting away.
Every last one of you is going into my pot!
Before you continue